Man charged in beating death says he was protecting daughter

A man accused of being part of a group that beat a man to death in West Baltimore "acted as any other father would" and maintains his innocence, his lawyer said Monday,.

"What he did not do is murder the man," attorney Thomas J. Maronick, Jr., said.

His client, Willie Mayes, 59, is accused of first-degree murder in the Sept. 2 death of Donald Robinson, 52, in Reservoir Hill.

Baltimore police said Mayes, his 19-year-old daughter, Latiqwa Mayes, and two teenage strangers ganged up on Robinson after Latiqwa screamed out that Robinson had raped her. Latiqwa Mayes was also charged with murder as was Kwan Blackburn and Malik Antonio Hampton-Cummings, both 17.

"What my client was doing what any father would do, trying to protect his daughter," Maronick said. "Let the facts come out. Let the truth come out. Let's wait on all the facts and I think it'll shed a lot of light on the circumstances."

Maronick said his client plans to plead not guilty but he declined to comment on whether Mayes assaulted Robinson because Maronick said he hasn't seen all of prosecutors' evidence.

On the night of Sept. 2, Latiqwa Mayes saw Robinson walking down the street and began yelling "He raped me. He's a sex offender," according to an arrest warrant. Willie Mayes called out to Robinson but when he kept walking, police said, Mayes also yelled: "Stop that guy, he tried to rape my daughter. Stop him."

Blackburn and Hampton-Cummings, both playing basketball in the 800 block of Lennox Street, responded and stopped Robinson, police said. Arrest warrants said they were among "several people" including Mayes and his daughter seen on a CitiWatch police surveillance camera beating Robinson, who was pronounced dead shortly after officers arrived.

Court records show Robinson was found guilty of a third-degree sex offense in 2003. Latiqwa Mayes did not report any alleged sex crime, police said. No attorney was listed in court records for her or the teens implicated in Robinson's death.